Synopsis:

Young and shy Quentin is in for the night of his life when Margo, the most popular student in high school, recruits him to play her mischievous pranks on the friends who betrayed her. The next day however, the mysterious Margo, is nowhere to be found. With help from a few friends and some cryptic clues that she left behind, Quentin embarks on an obsessive journey to find the girl who stole his heart and made him feel truly alive.

Review:

Paper Towns was a incredibly enjoyable book. John Green is my favourite writer so i had very high standards on this book. (Mind you i had just read A Fault In Our Stars, which is not only my favourite book but is very hard to top in the young adult literary world in my opinion.) I was happily surprised by this book. My first impression was “ooh this sounds excessively cheesy through and through. Maybe i shouldn’t have picked this book from the library” but when I started reading, i was deeply engaged. There’s a great quote in the book that goes…. “the town was paper but the memories were not.” Even though there is no secret meaning behind this quote in my review, i put it in here because i think its important to decode messages in books. From what i understand this quote is talking about how even though Quentin, Radar, Ben, Lacey, and Margo live in Florida and its boring, and they have nothing to do except go into cheap tourist shops that it doesn’t matter how absurd, and thin, and animated, and boring the town is, its the memories of love, and growing up that count. What matters is that they’re all together experiencing life in different ways but also in all the same ways as well. It’s a great book that simply shows the meaning of human connection and love in the simplest way possible. Now on to my favourite character, now everyone loves Margo. See i totally get that. She’s charming, mysterious and bad ass. Here’s the thing, as much as i love the character of Margo, she never sparked my interest as a contender for my favourite character. My favourite character is Lacey. She started out as sort of a brat saying that Margo couldn’t fit into jeans and that she didn’t have the right body type to try on types of clothes, but she really surprised me! She turn ed out to be smart, sweet, and shy. Plus i loved how John Green made her and Ben date. Even though i dislike the character of Ben a lot! All in all, this is a incredible book that i hope you get a chance to read!

Recommended ages 11- and up

Synopsis: Despite the tumour shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Review: I have read many books in the eleven years that i have lived. I like reading different genres to change my literary course. Sometimes it’s romance novels, sometimes its murder mysteries, sometimes its fantasy and even on the rare occasion, i read a sci-fi book. But, I would say my favourite genre of the book is a heartbreaking, depressing story. I love them. Something always bad happens at the start, then something good happens in the middle, and at the very end of the book it becomes even more depressing then it was at the start. I don’t know why i like these kinds of books, there must be something about a tragic ending that is appealing to my brain. If i had to describe what i thought of The Fault In Our Stars i would say that it was the most heartbreaking, gut wrenching, depressing novel i have ever read. I won’t spoil anything for you, but oh man. That is a crazy sad book. I had tears streaming down my eyes for a good 30 minutes without stopping. The Fault In Our Stars is the kind of book that brings you into perspective of a not so normal teen. The relationship between Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters is very much like an actual relationship between two teenagers ( other then the fact that they both have cancer). There’s a wonderful quote in the book (I’m not exactly sure what chapter) but it goes like this “Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.” That quotes states exactly what i feel about the Fault In Our Stars. Everyone, and i mean EVERYONE should read this book. It is truly incredible! I hope you have as much fun, and tears as i did when reading it!

Recommended ages: 12 and up.

Synopsis: Seventeen year old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor black neighbourhood where she lives, and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend, Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterwards, Khalil’s death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Starr’s best friend from school says he may have had it coming. When it becomes clear the police have little interest in investigating the incident, protesters take to the streets, and Starr’s neighbourhood becomes a war zone. What everyone wants to know is: What really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does- or does not- say could destroy her community. It could also endanger her life.

Review: This book was incredibly powerful. The story of Starr, Seven, Sekani, Kenya, DeVante, Maya and Chris is an incredible one. It talks about systemic racism, black lives matter and realizing who you are. This book made a profound impact on me. Angie Thomas has a incredible way of making you cry throughout the entire book. I found myself wiping tears away from my eyes quite a lot of the time i was reading the book. My favourite character was Starr she was very brave and emotional. I was very invested in her story and felt like i knew her character by the end of the book. I also enjoyed how modern it was, there were lots of elements of the book that happen frequently across the world. Like the protests that are being held for Khalil throughout the book, or the gangs that they have. The garden disciples and the Kings. I think all kids my age should read because i swear to you it will be worth it!

Recommended ages: 11 and up

Synopsis:

A beautiful and distinguished family.

A private island.

A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.

A group of four friends- the Liars- whose friendship turns destructive.

A revolution. An accident. A secret.

Lies upon lies.

True love.

The truth.

Read it, and if anyone asks you how it ends. Just LIE.

Review:

This book is beautiful, and thrilling and just incredible. It follows the protagonist Cadence Sinclair and what happens one deadly summer night on her family’s private island off the coast of Massachusetts. E Lockhart manipulates you into thinking you know what’s going on, but that’s not the case at all. There are so many twists and turns in this book it’s hard to keep track, but that’s what I love about it. She takes you on a literary journey over the course of 225 pages. Every time you think you know what’s going on she surprises you in the next chapter. The characters are really the stars of the show though; First there’s Cadence. She’s obviously damaged, brilliant and helpless. She has no plan in life and is clueless of what’s going on in front of her, There’s Mirren… who’s respectful and loves everyone to death no matter how bad they are. She loves everyone equally and doesn’t pick favourites. She just doesn’t love herself. There’s Johnny, he’s bright, energetic and happy about his painfully privileged life. He doesn’t mind that he doesn’t know the servers names. he’s very happy with his life as it is; and then there’s Gat. He’s always felt like an outsider in the family and hates them all in different ways. Some more then others. I’m not sure if I have a favourite character. I love them all equally and hate them equally as well. This book is incredible and definitely on my favourites list of books. I would recommend this book To anyone who loves a good red herring. I know I do. All in all, I would read this book 10 times and not get bored of it. That’s how good it is.

Recommended ages 11 and up…

Synopsis:

Summer 1984, Ebony- Grace Norfleet flies from Huntsville, Alabama, to Harlem, where she’ll stay with her father while her mother deals with the trouble that’s arisen for Ebony- Grace’s grandfather, Jeramiah Norfleet, one of the first black engineers to integrate NASA in the 1960’s. Ever since she came to live with him when she was little, he’s nurtured his granddaughter’s love for space and science fiction- especially Star Wars and Star Trek, both of which she’s watched dozens of times. So even as Ebony- Grace struggled to make friends, she had her grandfather and the imaginary worlds they created together.

New York though, is different. Hip-hop. Break dancing. Double Dutch. Graffiti. Harlem is a loud and bewildering place for a sheltered country girl, and her first reaction is to retreat into her imagination. But soon 126th street reveals that it has more in common with her beloved outer-space adventures than she ever dreamed, and by summer’s end, Ebony-Grace discovers that maybe she’s not an alien after all. Broken but beautiful, Harlem has a place for a girl whose eyes are always on the stars.

Review:

This story is set in the 80’s in Harlem. A crazy but also beautiful time with lots of rhythm, soul and beat. It seemed like a pretty cool time to be around in my opinion. Ibi Zoboi actually makes you think your in Harlem. You open the book and immediately become transported into the world of Harlem. When I read this book I actually had to look out the window to see if I was still in my real home. Ibi Zoboi does something incredible in this book. She educates you in the history of Harlem. It is a cross between fiction and non-fiction because of this. You learn about the history of Harlem and New York, as well as being transported to a different world. My favorite character in this book is Bianca, Ebony- Grace’s best friend. She has a crew of friends who aren’t very nice to anyone ( especially Ebony). She acts like them and talks like them but really she’s just a shy little 12 year old girl who wants to be a break dancer and rapper just trying to be cool! All in all, this book is incredible and I really enjoyed the writing and story plot!

Recommended ages 9-12

Synopsis:

Come on, Bayview you know you missed this.

A ton of copycat gossip apps have popped up since Simon died, but in the year the Bayview Four were cleared of his shocking death, no one’s been able to fill the gossip void quite like he could. The problem is no one has the facts.

Until now.

This time it’s not an app though- it’s a game.

Truth or Dare.

Phoebe’s the first target. If you choose not to play it’s a Truth. And hers is dark.

Then comes Maeve and she should know better- always choose the Dare.

But by the time Knox is about to be tagged, things have gotten dangerous. The dares have become deadly, and if Maeve learned anything from Bronwyn last year, it’s that they can’t count on the police for help. Or protection.

Simon’s gone but someone is determined to keep his legacy at Bayview High alive. And this time, there’s a whole new set of rules.

Review:

Usually I am skeptical over sequels. Both books and movies. But Karen M. McManus legitimately knows how to do it all! One Of Us Is Next is an amazing book! The characters are wonderful. What Karen M. McManus does is she makes you feel like you know the main characters almost a little too well. She makes us understand every single one of them. I feel that’s very important in a book since the main part of the book are the characters and what there like. The only negative aspect of this book is that personally the plot is more bland and simple then the last one, One Of Us Is Lying. The climax was not as exciting as the last book and it was also quite predictable. But this book is truly phenomenal. I was completely entranced by it the whole way through. All in all it is an amazing book that I would most definitely read again!

Recommended ages 11 and up

If you enjoyed reading One Of Us Is Next then here are three more books that might like even more!

1. Two Can Keep A Secret By: Karen M. McManus

2. This Story Is A Lie By: Tom Pollock

3. The Westing Game By: Ellen Raskin

Synopsis:

Miri Tan loved the book Undertow like it was a living being. So when she and her friends went to a book signing to meet the author, Fatima Ro, they concocted a plan to get close to her, even if her friends won’t admit it now. As for Jonah, well- Miri knows none of that was Fatima’s fault.

Soliel Johnston wanted to be a writer herself someday. When she and her friends started hanging out with her favourite author, Fatima Ro, she couldn’t believe their luck- especially when Jonah Nicholls started hanging out with them, too. Now, looking back, Soliel can’t believe she let Fatima manipulate her and Jonah like that. She can’t believe that she got used for a book.

Penny Panzerella was more then the materialistic party girl everyone at the Graham School thought she was. She desperately wanted Fatima Ro to see that, and she saw her chance when Fatima Ro asked the girls to be transparent with her. If only she’d known what would happen when Fatima learned Jonah’s secret. If only she’s known the line between fiction and truth was more complicated than any of them imagined…

Review:

A lot of the time the books I read I like a lot….. this was not one of them.

The idea of the book is very cool and interesting but it was not well executed. It was written in POV’s going back and forth between interviews with Penny Panzerella and Miri Tan, Soliel Johnston’s diary, excerpets from Fatima Ro’s new book based off of the main characters and their secrets and text messages between Fatima Ro and Soliel Johnston. I thought that the characters all had the same personality traits and I find that a bit boring. It was also cheesy. An example is in most of the book the writer Lydia Day Penalfor talked about authentic human connections, The Theory and ” the stuff of life”. I don’t really know what that means and found it a little weird that she kept telling us about those three things. Lydia Day Penalfor has lots of good ideas she just doesn’t know how to execute them in a fun and interesting way. One thing I did like about the book was how she explained everything in a very engaging way. There were four different POV’s and they all were placed in different stages of the book but you would still know what was going on. All in all I think that this book was definitely not one of my favourite books that I have reviewed but oh well…. not every book in the whole world is great is it?

Reccomended ages 11 and up

If you liked this book here are three books that you might like even more

1. One Of Us Is Lying: By Karen M. Mcmanus

2. Genuine Fraud By: E. Lockhart

3. Pretty Little Liars By: Sarah Shepard

Synopsis:

Christopher John Francis Boone, the fifteen year old narrator, of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime finds his neighbour’s dog dead. Hit and scraped by a garden fork. Christopher is determined to find out who killed the poodle Wellington, he starts to write a book about it. But when he finds letters addressed to him by his dead mother Christopher starts to ponder the ” what ifs”. Christopher decides to go on a quest to find his mother ( who turned out not to be dead) in London. Christopher finds his mother and finds out who killed Wellington ( a shocking surprise) and he finishes writing his book. Which makes Christopher feel like he can do anything. And maybe he can.

Review:

I really enjoyed this book. Mark Haddon has a weird ability of writing perfectly in a child’s POV. For almost the entire book I was left wondering if it was actually written by a child. It captures a child so perfectly especially one with autism like Christopher. One negative aspect was I wish it could be longer. It is a small book and I would love a sequel. My favourite character was Siobhan. She is talked about endlessly by Christopher. She helps him write his book and is always telling him to follow his dreams. She has no speaking lines other than in Christopher’s voice but she just seems like a genuinely nice person. She is a caregiver and she obviously loves Christopher to pieces. All in all this is a great book that kids and adults will love! ( Although fair warning there is a lot of swearing in it.)

Reccomended ages 12- up

Synopsis:

Five teens walk into the detention room. Only four walk out alive. Bronwyn is Yale bound and has never broken a rule publicly, Cooper is the all star athlete who can only make decisions on the baseball field, Nate is the bad boy who is on probation for drug dealing, Addy is the perfect homecoming princess and Simon is the nerd who has Bayview High’s notorious gossip app. This death isn’t an accident. Everyone has secrets it’s the problem of how far you would go to keep them.

Review:

One Of Us Is Lying is a great book. My favourite right now. It is Gossip Girl mixed with Pretty Little Liars. It is the perfect teen thriller. This book was amazing. I really enjoyed it. The writing style was amazing! Karen M. Mcmanus’s characters are plain and real. She doesn’t make things up. The writing style is not perfect. It’s interesting and entertaining and intriguing. The novel is made up of POV’s of the characters. My favourite character was Bronwyn the brain. She is the most interesting character. One negative aspect of the book was that the climax was a little too complicated for me. All in all though, a wonderful and entertaining book that will make you very satisfied at the end.

Recommended ages 12 and up

Synopsis:

The school year is over, and it’s summer in Atlanta. The sky is blue, the sun is blazing and the days brim with possibility. But Leah feels… lost. She has been this way since one terrible afternoon a year ago, when everything changed. Since that day her parents have become distant, her friends have fallen away and Leah’s been adrift and alone. Then she meets Jasper, a girl unlike anyone she’s ever known. There’s something mysterious about Jasper, magical almost. And Jasper Leah discovers is also lost. Together, the two girls carve out a place for themselves, a hideaway in the overgrown spaces in Atlanta, away from there parents and there hardships, somewhere only they can find. But as the days of this magical June draw to a close, and the darker reality of there dreams intrude once more, Leah and Jasper have to decide how real there friendship really is, and whether it can be enough to save them both.

Review:

This is an awesome book! I really enjoyed it! Laurel Snyder is very interesting. Her writing style is quite odd. Sometimes it made me feel really excited and made me want to read more, and then sometimes it bored me a little. The characters are really the stars of the book. My favourite character was Jasper. The lonely, abandoned, sad, but very funny best friend of Leah! She not only made the book better but was the best character to make you cry! This book is totally a book that I would recommend. Although Warning: it is very sad! All in all I thought this was a great book and I would definitely read it again!

recommended ages 8-12